Bridgetown (Barbados)

...of customer transactions. Visit Bridgetown in the morning and you will miss the heat of the midday sun and avoid rush hour traffic.

Broad Street is the main thoroughfare and consists mainly of banks, department stores and duty free shops, but you will find smaller speciality shops in other areas of the capital offering fine china, clothes, skin-care products and toiletries, together with wayside vendors.

And girls, if ...
...that there are parts of Bridgetown that are not safe to walk in at nighttime, but this happens all over the world, and at home…

Thing to do around Bridgetown~~

Bajan Helicopters~

Bajan Helicopters is situated at the Bridgetown Heliport and currently offer two sightseeing tours of the island, one of which covers approximately 30 miles of lush countryside when visiting the west and east coasts of ... more

This is the second part of my review about Barbados. So, if you would like to know where Barbados is located, flying time or even how I came to be fully clothed in a jacuzzi at midnight, please read the first part which is entitled “Heat, humidity…. and a hurricane called Lili”.

Bridgetown, situated on the southwest coast of the island, is the capital city of Barbados. There are lots of reminders of the island’s former links to Britain with names like Liverpool Street, Wellington Road, Waterloo Alley and there is a statue of Lord Nelson which is situated near the harbour, not too far from Chamberlain Bridge. I liked the colonial style architecture of some of it’s older buildings.

Many of the hotels offer shuttle services into Bridgetown. Most public transport emanates from the capital. The cheapest means of visiting different parts of the island is by bus. Government-run buses are blue and yellow. Wherever you go in Barbados there is a single standard fare BDS 1.50 per journey (about 50p). They ought to adopt this method in the UK as they might find that more people would use public transport. However, you must have the correct money, as you will not get change from the driver.

There are also smaller yellow buses, maxi-taxis and white minibuses. The latter are known locally as ZR’s as they carry a ZR plate. These drivers generally drive like lunatics without regard for man or beast. The fare is the same and usually there is a driver and a conductor, but you will receive change. Loud reggae music will blast your eardrums. Although no one has been killed, our waitress told us that there had been several bad accidents involving these minibuses. On one occasion I was sitting next to a young Bajan man who spent the whole of our journey sitting with his hands covering his eyes – very reassuring! On another occasion, the conductor squeezed 22 people into a minibus, which was issued with a license to carry 14 passengers!

If you are planning on doing any duty free shopping you will need to show your passport and your return ticket. On the whole shoppers will find that they are buying genuine, quality goods. A lot of the shops are air-conditioned, neat and tidy and with friendly and helpful sales assistants, who add traditional Bajan charm to the modern technology of customer transactions. Visit Bridgetown in the morning and you will miss the heat of the midday sun and avoid rush hour traffic.

Broad Street is the main thoroughfare and consists mainly of banks, department stores and duty free shops, but you will find smaller speciality shops in other areas of the capital offering fine china, clothes, skin-care products and toiletries, together with wayside vendors.

And girls, if you want to seriously dent your husband’s bank balance pay a visit to the main branch of Colombian Emeralds (there is also a branch of this store at the Airport). This Company buys emeralds from Columbia and offers emerald jewellery at prices much lower than European stores – mind you, you will still pay an arm and a leg if you want that emerald ring. I let my husband off this time….. perhaps on our next visit….

There are one or two small shopping arcades, with pleasant and not too expensive gift shops selling nice quality cotton t-shirts, fashion jewellery, mugs and pottery, shells etc. Barbadian-made handicrafts include batik, woodcraft, papercraft, basketry and carvings as well as some colourful paintings.

The shops along the waterfront are worth visiting and if you fancy a bite to eat and a cold drink stop at one of the waterside cafes and watch the catamarans, yachts and fishing boats as they return to the harbour.

I am quite certain that there are parts of Bridgetown that are not safe to walk in at nighttime, but this happens all over the world, and at home…

Thing to do around Bridgetown~~

Bajan Helicopters~

Bajan Helicopters is situated at the Bridgetown Heliport and currently offer two sightseeing tours of the island, one of which covers approximately 30 miles of lush countryside when visiting the west and east coasts of the island. See the rugged east coast with deserted sandy bays. The other covers a spectacular 50-mile journey around the coastline of Barbados. Be sure to take your camera or video recorder to record golden, sandy beaches and calm, turquoise seas.

Garrison Savannah ~

I am a horse owner and attend race meetings in the UK with some enthusiasm, (I hasten to add here that I own a Shire not a racehorse) so imagine my delight when, on one of our walks, we came across a racecourse. When it is not used for race meetings, joggers, athletes, roller skaters etc. can be seen using the track. It made me break out into a sweat just watching them as they raced round and round in the midday sun.

It is situated on the southern outskirts of Bridgetown and is used as a parade ground and sports arena hosting parades and official ceremonies for many activities.

Race meetings are held fairly regularly throughout the year. Most of the racehorses are born, bred and trained on Barbados and the neighbouring islands. So, native Bajan punters will have a definite advantage in that it is more than likely that they will have seen the horses perform many, many times before. Also, there is no form guide, so choosing a possible winner is a very hit and miss situation for the visitor to Barbados. There are no on-course bookmakers, so if you wish to place a bet, it will have to be on the tote.

If you like horse racing (and people watching), this is an interesting day out. The Bajan people get extremely excited when their horses win, making lots of noise and leaping into the air.

Other places to visit~~

The Animal Flower Cave

St. Lucy, a parish situated in the far north of the island offers spectacular scenery. It is where the calm Caribbean meets the pounding Atlantic waves. Stand on the barren cliff top where you can see local fishermen and watch the Atlantic rollers slamming relentlessly against the limestone cliffs. The northern part of the island offers quiet fishing villages and fields of sugar cane and other crops.

The Animal Flower Cave is a large sea cave with several chambers filled with pools, rock formations and sea anemones. But don’t do as I did – please wear sensible shoes and not strappy heeled sandals as the rocks are extremely slippery, and I was lucky not to fall and break my neck. (Still, it was a good excuse to hang on to the arm of our Guide – a rather tasty young man). Unfortunately, our visit was on the day after tropical storm Lili hit the island, and most of the anemones had been destroyed.

The Barbados Wildlife Reserve

This nature reserve can be found in the mahogany forest in the parish of St. Peter, which is in the north of the island near St. Lucy. You can see many animals at close quarters in their magnificent natural environment including the Barbados green monkeys as they groom each other; also otters, mongoose, deer, porcupine, tortoises etc. Some animals such as snakes, iguanas and caiman were caged. Many exotic birds can be seen in the walk-in aviary. A visit to the Wildlife Reserve is an enjoyable experience for adults and children.

Harrison’s Cave

This cavern, formed over the course of thousands of years from crystallized limestone is one of the most spectacular natural attractions of the island, although it has only been open to the public for 20 years or so. Visit the nature trail and the Visitors Centre before taking the electric tram into the cave. You will see magnificent chambers, incredible stalactites and stalagmites, bubbling streams, cascading waterfalls and calm, still emerald green pools. The cave is about a mile long and the tram stops to allow visitors to take a closer look at the beauty of the cave.

To conclude I loved Barbados and hope to visit again in the future. The Bajan people are amongst the friendliest that I have met and are happy to speak to the visitor. Their language is English, although I found that the dialect was not easy to understand and, on occasion, was like listening to a foreign language. We also managed to attract the attention of one or two people who, had either over-indulged in the local tipple – rum, or, had been smoking whacky backy. But, even these people were not offensive.

You will find that there is poverty. Some of the local people live in shanty towns, the wooden homes are neglected and falling into dereliction, windows and shutters are broken, with thin and hungry looking dogs roaming the streets.

If you are looking for a Caribbean holiday with lovely sandy beaches, warm, clear, calm turquoise waters, and a laid-back atmosphere, I would recommend Barbados.

I am saving my pennies for the next holiday, which could be in February 2003 but is definitely going to be somewhere hot to get away from this dreary English weather….

Hope you enjoyed,
Janna

 

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